'Gangnam Style' Lyrics in English: What the Hit Korean Song Really Means

Sep 19, 2012 05:24 PM EDT

"Gangnam Style" Psy in a screenshot from the popular music video (YouTube)

"Gangnam Style", a Korean pop song by rapper Psy has become a YouTube sensation garnering nearly 200 million views and even singers like Nelly Furtado, T-Pain, Josh Groban and Justin Timberlake's manager are singing his praises.

The video is a parody of life in 21st century South Korea where people are in love with beautiful material things and status. Park's satirical song points at these features and uses the Gangnam area as the pinnacle of Korea's current trends.

Gangnam is a wealthy area of Seoul known for its luxurious crowds concerned with shopping, slim girls and coffee shops. South Korea has become the world's 11th largest coffee market as the number of coffee shops increased more than 50 percent between 2011 and 2012.

The song is also about people pursuing this luxurious lifestyle as the scenes in the video suggest. It shows Psy as a hotshot in a number of seemingly exuberant and luxurious settings only to find out that the scene is pretty mundane when the camera pans out.

Here are the "Gangnam Style" lyrics translated in English:

Oppa is Gangnam style Gangnam style

A girl who is warm and humanly during the day A classy girl who know how to enjoy the freedom of a cup of coffee A girl whose heart gets hotter when night comes A girl with that kind of twist

I'm a guy A guy who is as warm as you during the day A guy who one-shots his coffee before it even cools down A guy whose heart bursts when night comes That kind of guy

A girl who looks quiet but plays when she plays A girl who puts her hair down when the right time comes A girl who covers herself but is more sexy than a girl who bares it all A sensable girl like that

I'm a guy A guy who seems calm but plays when he plays A guy who goes completely crazy when the right time comes A guy who has bulging ideas rather than muscles That kind of guy